The D word. It’s something we don’t talk about enough in our culture, and even when we do, we can’t seem to get the word out. Pushing up the daisies, kicking the bucket, biting the dust… There are so many metaphors to help us avoid directly talking about Death.
This poses a problem for marketing professionals in the charity sector, where gifts in Wills account for up to a third of annual income. When 30% of your revenue is at stake, encouraging your audience to face the inevitability of death becomes essential. Bristol-based CRM agency Flourish have identified this as a challenge and are helping charities to maximise their potential for legacy donations.
A legacy donation is made when someone leaves a gift for a charity in their Will.
For many people, including a charity donation in their Will is a way to ensure their beliefs are honoured when they’re no longer here. Some people choose to pledge a set amount, whereas others opt for a per centage of their estate. However, there are others who slip though the net, and don’t get round to updating their Will at all.
Fortunately, there are awareness days around gifts in Wills – and two of them are on the horizon over the next couple of months. To help charities make the most of these, Flourish is planning a series of articles, case studies and social media posts to help raise awareness of legacy marketing and the challenges that surround it.
Record numbers of people are leaving gifts in their Wills today, partly thanks to increased awareness, demonstrating that an appetite to do something meaningful is there. Charities who provide a sensitive, thoughtful legacy journey have the potential to capture many more legacy donations.
Kim Martin, Executive Creative Director, said, “Fundraising Managers should start planning now to capitalise on awareness days later in the year. It’s a golden opportunity to find hand-raisers who will become pledgers in the future.”
You can keep up to date with the campaign by following Flourish via LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter and by visiting the Flourish website blog.
Flourish have worked with a range of not-for-profit organisations over 15 years, providing creative and strategic planning to raise legacy funding from gifts in Wills. This has resulted in some increased revenue for charities including PDSA, Crisis, St Mungo’s, Diabetes UK, CLIC Sargent and many more.
If you need help communicating about legacy fundraising to your audience, get in touch with Flourish and we’ll be happy to offer a free customer journey review in time for the upcoming legacy fundraising awareness days.
Specialist CRM agency Flourish has strengthened its commitment to putting the customer experience at the heart of everything it does with the appointment of former TSB and Bank of Ireland marketing head Emma Stacey as a non-executive director.
The move follows a recent management restructure at Flourish that has seen Ian Reeves appointed Managing Director. The new senior management team will maintain Flourish’s pragmatic approach to CRM, whilst expanding the use of data available through search and social to continually improve the relevance of customer led journeys.
Stacey will advise Flourish as the team look to consolidate their position and move into the next stage of their growth plan. Flourish will draw on Stacey’s vast experience, gained in the financial sector, of putting customers at the centre of every marketing experience, whilst achieving financial objectives.
Managing Director Ian Reeves said: “I am absolutely delighted to welcome Emma to the Flourish family. Our whole team and our clients will benefit from Emma’s wealth of knowledge. The ‘money confidence’ TSB campaign demonstrated the importance of data driven communications, something Flourish champion with all of our clients and I’m looking forward to Emma helping us as we onboard new clients in the future.”
Michelin starred, restaurant quality pasta, delivered straight to your door. That’s the idea behind new recipe box venture, Otto. And as the fledgling service prepares to outgrow London town, they’ve turned to Bristol agency Flourish to lead the way to plates further afield.
Since launching in May last year, Otto has ramped up service – going from servicing just four London postcodes, to delivering right across the capital. And now, with big plans to expand outside of London, Flourish has been appointed the agency to help take exceptional pasta to the masses. And boy is there an appetite…
In 2020, the UK spent a huge £190m on fresh pasta and noodles (YouGov). And pasta accounted for just under 12% of evening meals (kitchen cooking index).
The popularity of recipe boxes has skyrocketed in the last few years, too. A Cardylicks study found of the 22 million UK bank accounts they analysed, 11 million purchased recipe boxes. It’s a market that was worth $10.6 billion globally in 2020, and it continues to grow.
But with growth comes competition. Otto will be going toe-to-toe with the likes of Pasta Evangelists and all kinds of other recipe box cuisines, so demonstrating value and quality will be top of the agenda.
Otto was founded by entrepreneur and Pots & Co founder Julian Dyer, and long-time collaborator and friend Phil Howard, Chef-Patron of Michelin-starred London restaurant Elystan Street.
Julian said of the recent partnership between Otto and Flourish: “We’re really excited about working with Flourish on taking Otto onto the next step of our journey.”
He added, “We have exciting plans for the retail side of Otto as well as the restaurant, working with Flourish will help us produce inspiring marketing campaigns to bring the brand to life and help us grow the business.”
Flourish has been a long-time supporter of challenger brands like Otto, albeit on a different scale – Samsung, ebay and Huawei to name a few big-hitters. And Flourish’s Managing Director Ian Reeves can’t wait to get stuck in:
“As a customer journey agency, the acquisition of new customers plays an important role for all of our clients, and especially for brands ready to expand, like Otto.”
He added, “We’re absolutely delighted to be working with Julian, Phil and the rest of the Otto team – their passion is infectious, and their pasta is unbelievably good.”
To find out more about our work with challenger brands, big and small, please get in touch.
But what appears to be a shiny new toy for some marketers has actually been the mainstay for specialist CRM agencies like Flourish for years. Since its inception in 2003 Flourish has used data to drive customer journeys that help brands to be more relevant with their messaging.
At the back of 2021 Flourish delivered a personalised end-of-year round up campaign for Twitch, the global streaming site. Over 45 million Twitch users, viewers and creators received the email campaign which was translated into 28 languages.
These uber-personalised comms didn’t simply include the customer’s name or what they just bought. We’re talking whole-email personalisation; with eight different creative variants, based on a contact’s level of platform engagement, each in-turn sharing cool and interesting personal stats based on their year with Twitch. The decision to allocate individual users to different creative variants was driven by real world data insights that identified the type of user they were, the relationship they had with Twitch and their future potential.
Every email was personalised to the recipient, reflecting their year with Twitch. Users and viewers could see the creators and channels they’d watched most, what they’d supported with subs and follows and even what their favourite emote was. Creators could see how many hours they’d streamed, how many viewers they’d picked up, how they interacted with them and who their biggest fans were.
The roundup was a big hit with recipients and saw 500K+ shares on social media. As the campaign landed Twitch saw a 67% increase in traffic to the site as users and viewers reconnected with their favourite content. So much so that there was a 971% incremental increase in the number of hours watched.
Rich James, Managing Partner at Flourish and Twitch client lead said: “We’re always striving to help Twitch be as relevant to their audience of users and viewers as possible. But we’re also conscious for the need to support the content creators that do so much to make Twitch what it is. The end-of-year campaign did both perfectly. Presenting a summary that hyped creators, helped them understand their impact and achievements, whilst viewers were given a timely reminder of everything they’ve loved on Twitch. The campaign was the perfect example of how every member of the Flourish team lives and breathes personalisation in everything they do. The project was led by the amazing Sanni Haltunnen (Senior Account Manager) and Glenn Carver (Technical Campaign Manager) with the wider support of the agency. We’re really proud of what they and the team have delivered for Twitch”
If you’d like help to take your communications beyond personalisation and into relevance, you can get in touch with Rich James. Alternatively, you can take a closer look at Flourish.
Since Flourish began its life back in 2003, we’ve always had charities on our client list. We’ve worked with organisations of all sizes, gaining a vast amount of knowledge of donor engagement and development, particularly in the area of Legacy Marketing.
It’s why Guardian Angel Network invited us to speak at their successful ‘Leg up for legacies’ webinar series, and last week we had the privilege of passing on our insights around the theme: ‘Storytelling: how to write an engaging case study.
Legacy marketing is unique; there’s no immediate benefit for someone today. And they won’t be here to see what good their gift does. Remembering a charity in your Will is a purely altruistic act. But even a charity’s most fervent supporters aren’t guaranteed to become legacy supporters – legacy marketing is about inspiring supporters to take the next step and pledge a gift in their Will.
So, how do you inspire people through marketing? Stories. Through the telling of stories, you can make an emotional connection with a prospect and demonstrate that your charity reflects their values. In legacy marketing, stories are told through case studies.
To make sure your case studies are as engaging as they can be, they must connect to your audience. We’ve shortlisted the below criteria to help you make the most of your case study stories:
1 Know the frame in which you stories will appear
Legacy marketing campaigns tend to fit into a few ‘narrative frames’. Understanding these will make sure your case studies fit with the broader narrative of your campaign.
The frame you choose is all about the audience you’re going after. Older people tend to respond better to autobiographical storytelling / symbolic immortality. Younger people tend to respond better to connection with friends and family / aversion avoidance.
2 Choose your narrator wisely
The messaging you’re trying to support should inform the ‘voice’ you choose. It’s all about where the authority lies. Can the case study legitimately comment on the thing you’re using them for? Only a service user can tell you what it’s really like to be homeless, have cancer, or be affected by depression. But a relative can tell you how much it’s affected the wider family. Trying to norm legacy giving? Legacy Supporters, their relatives and solicitors might be a good choice. The impact legacies can have on the cause? A Charity CEO can talk with authority about the facts and figures.
3 Relatability is important
The closer your audience is to your case study in age and experience, the more relatable their story will be. The obvious exception to this rule is first-hand accounts from service users. Supporters often choose a charity because they have a personal link, but most of your audience will have no direct experience of the cause, be it blindness, cancer, homelessness, poverty, asthma etc.
If you have a case study that isn’t that close to your target audience, instead look for common ground. A 45-year-old man might not easily relate to a 75 year old women’s view of the world, but does know what it means to be a parent. Just as your audience might not know what it means to be homeless, they can still imagine what it must feel like like having to use a public toilet to wash in.
4 You have to be authentic
There’s no point nailing relatability if what happens in your case study comes across as inauthentic.
Look at these two case study excerpts:
“My wife started forgetting things. We were going on holiday and she packed the wrong clothes. It was terrible.”
“We’d packed to go to Cyprus. Vera had three cases. We had to pay extra for them. When we got there she’d packed fleeces, warm clothes – I said: ‘what have you done that for love?’ She just shook her head and said she was sorry. I knew then that this wasn’t just a bit of forgetfulness”
Both excerpts are true. But the first feels less authentic. The key is just enough detail. Too little and your case study will feel generic. Too much and it will feel contrived. Look for the nuggets of detail in a story and include two or three in your case study.
5 Understand the narrative arc
Case studies in a social post, online video or even a direct mail pack don’t exist in isolation. We should think of them as individual tales in a bigger story. Every case study should support the narrative arc of the campaign or the brand.
6 Consider a story strategy
We’re all used to content strategies to ensure our messaging doesn’t fatigue and we’re constantly providing engaging material for our audiences. Legacy marketing is no different. The lifecycle of a legacy supporter from prospect to pledger can take decades. You need to make sure that the stories you tell them are fresh and keep them engaged.
7 The perfect case study doesn’t exist!
You need to use the most relatable story for your audience, depending on the stage they are at in their journey from prospect to pledger.
If you have any views on these points, or any points you’d add to this list, just reach out, we’d love to hear from you.
Lockdown puppies. Admit it. You considered one. A little companion to keep you company working from home, a playmate for the kids and a reason to get out for your 10,000 steps each day. And if you did end up getting one? You’re not alone.
According to the BBC more than 3.2 million more pets were bought during lockdown. Veterinary charity PDSA’s research shows nearly 2 million of these were puppies, with many owners saying it was the first time they had owned a pet.
Over the same period 1.4 million more claimants registered for financial support as the pandemic effectively stopped people being able to earn a living. More pets, more first time owners and more economic uncertainty. A perfect storm for PDSA who treat the pets of owners who cannot afford veterinary treatment.
PDSA turned to CRM specialists Flourish to develop a campaign to raise awareness and money to meet the forecast jump in demand for their services. The resulting Give Pets a Fighting Chance campaign went live in late November 2021.
An initial priming film was shared on social and via email underlining just how much pets mean to us and have enriched our live during lockdown. This was followed by a fundraising phase on social, email and via direct mail to existing supporters.
The campaign celebrated pets, paying homage to just how amazing they are for our physical and mental wellbeing. This celebration provided the platform from which to ask for donations witch communications suggesting that: “For all pets do for us, they deserve a fighting chance.”
The response to the campaign has been incredible, with celebs including Ricky Gervais, Michaela Strachan, Alesha Dixon and James from the Vamps showing their support on Twitter.
Preliminary results are incredibly encouraging with the campaign being well on track to meet its financial targets to make sure any increase in need for PDSA services will be met.
Laura Tovar Senior Account Director at Flourish said: “The potential increase in need for PDSA services had to be addressed, and quickly. We’ve been working with PDSA for 3 years now and in that time our campaigns have always hit their targets and often smashed them. Our Give Pets a Fighting Chance campaign has been well-received and I have no doubt that many pets lives will be saved as a direct result of it”.
If you have a CRM project you’d support with, you can get in touch with Flourish by contacting Steve Davis. Alternatively take a look at some of our work.
Steve is no stranger to complex, data-led customer journeys. He’s built them for the last 15 years – working both client and agency-side to deliver multi-channel media campaigns for the likes of Unilever, Samsung and Bosch.
He was instrumental in building the clothing brand Finisterre into a well-established High Street name with a presence throughout Europe. He’s also headed up the Chemical Records marketing department; driven international marketing strategy and customer acquisition campaigns for Vodafone; and picked up a host of industry awards along the way.
Now back at Flourish for a second stint (he previously headed up the media department), Steve re-joins as the Head of Strategy & Insights, at a time when stocks in data and insight couldn’t be higher. Stands to reason. As more businesses ramp up their digital activity, they generate more data. The ability to read, understand and utilise that information is where the real value lies.
Managing Partner Ian Reeves hopes Steve’s impressive analytical ability will help to provide clients with the kind of insight that will optimise current campaigns – and create successful new ones.
“It’s great to welcome Steve back to the team,” said Ian. “He has a unique skillset combining media planning, digital strategy and practical commercial experience, giving clients the insight and intelligence to define who, where and how to target.”
Steve will be the bridge between the client brief and a data-led solution. Responsible for uncovering the insights behind every client challenge, then working with the wider team to find the perfect solution.
Every business has data, but not many can translate it into intelligence. Get in touch with Steve for a free audit, insider tips, and the fundamental dos and don’ts of data strategy.
Stephen Davis, Head of Strategy & Insights
0117 317 7635
steve.davis@flourishworld.co.uk
Following a pitch win back in March 2019, PDSA approached us with a big project. They wanted us to help plan their fundraising strategy and produce supporting collateral and events to attract a younger, more digitally active audience.
As the UK’s leading veterinary charity, PSDA wanted their fundraising guide and supporting material to be informative and motivational, but visually appealing in a way that would capture the attention of a new generation of supporters.
OPTIMISE
We approached them with two design proposals for the fundraising guide. The first was more in line with their current fundraising material and represented the ‘traditional’ PDSA branding. The second was a complete revamp and drastic departure from what they currently had in place. To our delight, PDSA went with the second.
ELEVATE
The fundraising guide was stripped to a single colour – the bold PDSA pink – and coupled with a new font, fun graphic elements, quirky animal illustrations and a catchy title (#FundraiseLikeABeast). In line with the target audience, this was initially created as a digital download – accessible on mobile devices – followed by a print version.
This new style was then developed across supporting material, including:
TRANSFORM
To further transform and diversify their fundraising product range, we were asked to create a new virtual event that would encourage supporters to engage with the charity.
After researching competitor activity and thinking about the motivations of our target audience, we decided to tap into the ‘challenge’ element of virtual events. This led to the creation of Dog’s Dinner Challenge; an event that plays on the fun of hosting a meal for friends or family, with a ‘side dish’ of fundraising for pets in need.
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